Google Ads channel prioritization: a setup guide for e-commerce

Google Ads channel prioritization lets you rank the channels a campaign can serve on as High or Low priority, so the campaign funds High priority channels first. Budget allocation adds an optional cap on how much of the average daily budget a Low priority channel can use, for example 5%, or 0% to stop it. Both controls started rolling out on October 15, 2026, to Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns (Google Ads Help).

For an online store, the practical question is not whether to use them but where they change anything. Prioritization alone does little in target ROAS or target CPA campaigns that aren't limited by budget. The cap is the control that works there. This guide covers what each campaign type lets you rank, how the controls behave with each bid strategy, the setups that make sense for e-commerce, and the February 2027 change for Search campaigns with the Display Network turned on.

What are channel prioritization and budget allocation?

Google announced both controls on October 14, 2026, as an alternative to "all-or-nothing" channel opt-outs (Google Ads & Commerce Blog).

• Channel prioritization: each channel is High or Low priority. Every channel starts at High, so nothing changes until you move one down. Google spends on High priority channels first and sends what is left to Low priority channels.
• Budget allocation: an optional daily percentage limit, available only on channels set to Low priority. Google calls it best effort: spend aims to stay under the limit but can occasionally go over.

As of October 2026, availability varies by account while the rollout continues, so you may see the controls in one account and not yet in another.

Which channels can you prioritize in each campaign type?

Source: About channel prioritization and budget allocation (Google Ads Help, as of October 2026).

"Google channels" is the catch: in Performance Max and Demand Gen, Google Search, YouTube, Maps, Gmail and Discover are grouped together and ranked as one block. You can't set YouTube to Low priority inside a Performance Max campaign, or cap it on its own. What you can control in Performance Max is search partners and the Display Network.

How does prioritization change spend with your bid strategy?

It depends on whether the campaign is limited by budget. Google's help page describes three cases:

If your Shopping or Performance Max campaigns run on target ROAS and rarely hit their budget, setting a channel to Low priority without a cap changes little. If the goal is to limit how much a campaign spends on search partners or the Display Network, set the channel to Low priority and add a percentage. If you changed targets recently, see our guide to updating target ROAS after Google's August 2026 bidding update.

How does the budget allocation cap work?

• It is a share of the average daily budget, not of what the campaign actually spent. Google's example: 5% on a $1,000 average daily budget targets about $50 a day on that channel.
• 0% stops spend on that channel.
• It resets every day. Unspent or overspent amounts don't carry over.
• It is best effort. Google says it isn't a guarantee, and daily spend on the channel may occasionally exceed the allocation.
• On a shared budget, the cap applies to the whole shared budget across the campaigns using it.

The cap also gives you a middle option for channels you switched off. Google suggests that advertisers who opted out of search partners or the Display Network can test them again with a defined limit (Google).

Should you set it at account, shared budget or campaign level?

All three exist, and the most specific setting wins:

• Account level: a default per campaign type (one for Search, one for Shopping, and so on) that applies to every eligible campaign of that type. Campaigns already spending more than the new percentage on a Low priority channel may see their spend shift.
• Shared budget level: only when every campaign on the budget is the same type. The budget is then treated as one pool. Google's shared budgets page lists Search and Shopping among the campaign types that can share a budget.
• Campaign level: overrides the account default. You can switch a campaign back to the account default at any time.

A few limits to know before you plan the rollout (as of October 2026):

• You can't set channel priorities from a manager account. Agencies have to configure each client account, or each campaign.
• The controls are available in the Google Ads interface and Search Ads 360. Google Ads API and Google Ads Editor support is listed as "coming soon".
• Campaigns using a campaign total budget only support prioritization in Demand Gen.
• Custom experiments support both controls, but not multi-campaign shared budgets, and all channels in the experiment share one priority tier.

How to set it up

1. Account default: go to Account settings, open the Channel Prioritization card, choose the campaign type, set each channel to High or Low priority, enter an optional percentage for Low priority channels, and click Save.
2. One campaign: go to Campaigns, open the campaign's Settings, expand Channel Prioritization, choose to use campaign-level settings, set priorities and optional percentages, and click Save.

How should an online store set up each campaign type?

There is no single right setup: it depends on where each campaign converts today. These are reasonable starting points, to adjust once you have a few weeks of data.

Shopping campaigns

Shopping has two channels: Google Search and search partners. If search partners convert below your target, set them to Low priority with a small cap instead of opting out. You keep a little reach and data, and you can raise the cap if results hold.

Performance Max campaigns

Start from data, not assumptions. The channel performance report (Campaigns, then Insights and reports, then Channel performance) shows cost, conversions and conversion value for Google Search, the Display Network, YouTube, Discover, Maps, Gmail and search partners, from June 6, 2025 onward. If search partners or the Display Network take a real share of spend without returning conversion value, set them to Low priority with a cap. YouTube spend stays inside "Google channels", so the report helps you spot it, but these controls can't cap it separately. Our guide to spend reports by asset group in Performance Max covers the other side of the same question.

Checking this campaign by campaign takes time when an account runs several Performance Max campaigns. Clarmix PMax Insights shows how much of each campaign's spend goes to YouTube, Search and Display rather than Shopping, alongside branded search terms and alerts, which helps decide where a Low priority cap is worth setting.

Search campaigns

If Display Expansion is on, decide now whether you want Display spend at all. Setting the Display Network to Low priority with a cap gives you a clear limit today and settles the February 2027 change in advance (see below).

Demand Gen campaigns

You can rank Google channels against the Display Network, but budget allocation isn't supported, so there is no cap to set.

What changes in February 2027 for Search campaigns?

Starting February 2027, Search campaigns with Display Expansion turned on move automatically to channel prioritization and budget allocation. The current spend allocation setup ends, and spend between Search and Display may shift (Google Ads Help).

• To keep today's setup, Google says to set the Display Network to Low priority with a 50% allocation.
• Target impression share campaigns will stop serving on the Display Network.
• Priorities you set before February 2027 apply immediately and replace the Display Expansion behavior for that campaign.
• Campaigns with no priorities set keep the current behavior until the change.

Should you change channel priorities before Black Friday?

Google presents the controls as useful for the holiday season, but timing matters. Google's guidance for Performance Max is to allow 1 to 2 weeks for a campaign to stabilize after significant changes (Google Ads Help). With Black Friday on November 27, 2026, make channel changes in early November at the latest, then leave them alone through the sale. Our Black Friday Google Ads checklist has the full calendar, and our guide to seasonality adjustments covers bidding for the peak days.

Which mistakes should you avoid?

• Expecting Low priority alone to cut spend. In target ROAS or target CPA campaigns that aren't limited by budget, it generally changes nothing. Add a percentage.
• Treating the cap as a hard limit. It is best effort, and it is calculated on the average daily budget, not on actual spend.
• Forgetting the account default. An account-level setting applies to every eligible campaign of that type, including ones you didn't mean to change.
• Trying to cap YouTube in Performance Max. YouTube is part of "Google channels" and can't be ranked or capped on its own.
• Changing many settings at once. Change one channel at a time per campaign, so you can tell what moved results. Our list of common Performance Max mistakes covers other changes that disrupt learning.

Frequently asked questions

Is channel prioritization available in every Google Ads account?

Not yet. Google started rolling it out progressively on October 15, 2026, and availability varies by account and campaign type. If you don't see the Channel Prioritization card in Account settings, the feature hasn't reached your account.

Can I stop Performance Max from spending on search partners?

Yes. Set search partners to Low priority with a 0% allocation. Google describes allocations as best effort, so check the channel performance report afterward.

Does the budget cap work in Demand Gen?

No. As of October 2026, Demand Gen supports prioritization between Google channels and the Display Network, but not budget allocation.

Can agencies set channel priorities from a manager account?

No. The settings have to be made in each client account, at account or campaign level. API and Google Ads Editor support was listed as coming soon in October 2026.

Sources

• Channel prioritization and budget allocation, October 14, 2026 (Google Ads & Commerce Blog)
• About channel prioritization and budget allocation (Google Ads Help)
• About the channel performance report for Performance Max (Google Ads Help)
• About shared budgets (Google Ads Help)

Cover photo by Girish Dalvi on Unsplash.